This program is designed to provide safety strategies for faculty as well as the general college community. Members of the Virginia Tech Review Panel share "Lessons Learned" and make recommendations based upon recent key findings. Additional topics include: how to properly identify threats, best practices for Emergency Response Plans, choosing campus alert systems, and how privacy laws actually can allow critical information sharing, contrary to popular belief!

Programs guests:

Col. Gerald Massengill, now retired as a Virginia State Police Superintendent, was appointed Chairman of the Virginia Tech Review Panel that studied the worst mass shooting in modern American history. He led the state's law-enforcement response to the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon in Northern Virginia and the 2002 sniper attacks.

John Matthews is an Assistant Chief Constable for Dallas County (Pct. #7) and a former small-town Chief of Police. His organization, Campus Safety Initiatives (CSI) has provided public safety and school safety services for law enforcement agencies and school districts through the U.S.

Gary Pavela teaches in the Honors Program at the University of Maryland and writes law and policy newsletters to which over 1,000 colleges and universities subscribe. In 2006 he was designated the University of Maryland's "Outstanding Faculty Educator" by the Maryland Parents' Association. He has taught at the Federal Judicial Center in Washington, D.C. (the training arm of the United States Courts), is a Fellow of the National Association of College and University Attorneys, and serves on the Board of the Kenan Ethics Institute at Duke University.

Dr. Frank Ardito has been teaching personal safety courses for students, faculty, and staff for the past twenty years. His tenure includes work at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Western Illinois University, and
McHenry County College. In addition, Frank has served on the coaching staff of the United States Karate Team and has been honored as a recipient of the ISKC Self-Defense Teacher of the Year and NISOD Excellence awards. Most recently, he presented at the 2008 NISOD Conference on classroom safety. Dr. Ardito is currently employed as Department Chair and Faculty at McHenry County College and, this fall, will begin a new position at The College of Lake County in Grayslake, Illinois.

Gordon Davies is author of Connecting the Dots: Lessons from the Virginia Tech Shootings, printed January/February 2008, Change, The Magazine of Higher Learning. As a member of the Virginia Tech Review Panel, Mr. Davies focused on campus security, student communications, & the ability to access student medical records. Gordon Davies served as Director for the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia for 20 years (1977-1997).

Aradhana A. "Bela" Sood, M.D., FAACAP is Chair of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Medical Director of the Virginia Treatment Center for Children at Virginia Commonwealth University Health Systems.